Malta’s efforts against corruption are limited – Commission President / Malta News Briefing – Wednesday

1745- Latest News update

Times of Malta says August showers wet parts of Malta and Gozo on Wednesday, with rain forecast for the coming days and thunderstorms a possibility, according to the Meteorological Office.   

MaltaToday says garbage and urban debris in some of Malta’s most populated towns and seaside localities have become a regular nuisance in the hot summer months. But to the visually-impaired the threat of unhygienic street furniture and environs is now a national concern.

Newsbook says Prime Minister Robert Abela’s failure to speak about, or rather against, what was meant to be a ‘show of force’ in support of Frederick Azzopardi says a lot.

TVM says Last month was another month during which the Malta airport continued to register a substantial recovery in traffic since the pandemic.

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Mid-Day Briefing

Malta’s efforts against corruption are limited – Commission President: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Malta’s efforts to introduce anti-corruption reforms in response to the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry have been “limited”. In an interview with the Times of Malta, the top EU bureaucrat said that when it came to corruption, there had been “limited or no follow-up” to the inquiry board’s recommendations. “It is important that the Maltese authorities ensure the necessary follow-up on those recommendations”, particularly about outlawing “mafia-style association” and regulating contact between politicians and businesses.

Overdevelopment killing Gozo charm – GTA: All establishments that took part in a survey organised by the Gozo Tourism Association said that the sister island is losing its charm because of over-development. During the past two weeks, the Gozo Tourism Association said it conducted an online survey amongst its members focusing on the touristic product and the constraints being encountered by the Gozitan tourism establishments during these recovery times from the Covid pandemic.

Covid-19 Update

One person has died while Covid-positive, the health authorities reported on Wednesday, while 43 new cases were identified. Active cases have gone down to 696.

Morning Briefing

Survey shows Maltese people among the angriest

Angry and worried: this is the assessment of the Maltese population according to a global study analysing citizens’ emotional state. The study – carried out by US analytics company Gallup in more than 120 countries – found that a quarter of Maltese surveyed for the study said they had experienced anger a day before being questioned. Malta features among the top 20 nations around the globe for such characteristics. Some 64 per cent of those interviewed saying they were worried about something at some point in the day before they took part in the survey. (Times of Malta)

Airmalta retirement scheme moved to December

Air Malta staff that was meant to leave the company through early termination schemes this month, will now leave the national airline by 31 December, 2022.
With the airline enjoying higher summer loads as tourism picks up from the pandemic, more workers have had to be retained for service despite plans by the finance ministry to release 600 airline employees into the public service. (Maltatoday)